1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to manufacturing and, in particular, to the manufacturing of structures using robots. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for exchanging tools in a robot.
2. Background
Manufacturing aircraft structures may be a complex and time-consuming process. Thousands of parts may be designed and assembled to complete an aircraft structure. Further, aircraft structures may be of considerable size.
Human operators may perform operations on an aircraft structure. For instance, human operators may perform operations such as drilling, fastening, coating, and inspecting, among others. Countless labor hours are needed for human operators to assemble and inspect the aircraft structure. Further, due to the size of an aircraft structure, human operators may have limited access to areas of the aircraft structure. Yet further, performing operations by human operators may increase the time, complexity, and cost of assembling the aircraft more than desired.
As a result, robots may be used to perform some operations. Manufacturing aircraft structures may include operations performed by robots traveling across a surface of an aircraft structure. For example, a robot may travel across a surface of an aircraft wing to drill, fasten, coat, inspect, or perform another desirable operation on the surface of an aircraft structure. A robot may use a set of tools to perform operations on the surface of the aircraft structure. The set of tools may be interchangeable. As a result, a set of tools may be exchanged for a set of new tools prior to performing an operation.
Currently, to exchange a set of tools, a human operator must remove a set of old tools and insert a set of new tools. At least one of the human operator and the robot must move towards the other so that the human operator may exchange the set of tools. Using human operators to exchange a set of tools may increase the time, complexity, or cost of assembling the aircraft more than desired. Further, using a human operator to exchange a set of tools may not be ergonomically desirable. For example, a human operator may have to climb onto an aircraft wing if the robot is present on the aircraft wing.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues. Specifically, one issue may be to find a method and apparatus for exchanging a set of old tools for a set of new tools.